Should The Capitals Trade Down For A Defenseman In The 2024 NHL Draft?

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The Washington Capitals need to start focusing on life after their star players. We all know about the age of Alex Ovechkin. Before next season starts he'll be 39-years-old. There are reports or rumors that after his current contract runs out in 2026 he is done in Washington. The Caps need to be prepared for life after the greatest goal scorer.

Another guy who is getting up there in age is defenseman John Carlson. If you go by points Carlson is easily the best defenseman in Capitals history. His 674 points (and counting) are two hundred more than second place, that being Calle Johansson. His 151 goals are also first, two more than Kevin Hatcher at 149.

Carlson will be turning 35 in the middle of next season. How many good seasons does he have left? More importantly, do they have his future replacement? I would say no, they don't.

Some people will argue that the Capitals should maybe trade up in this years draft to select a defenseman. But should they do the opposite? Should they trade down to get a defenseman instead?

Just because you trade up that does not mean the defenseman you take is going to be any better. You want a good example of a great defenseman taken late in the first round? How about John Carlson? He was selected 27th overall in 2008. A great player can come from anywhere, you don't need to trade up to get one. While there are some good defensemen in this draft, there doesn't seem to be any slam dunks either. Save your assets don't reach for something that isn't a near slam dunk.

There are a couple of nice defensemen who have some higher upside who will likely be available, not only late in the first round but potentially early in the second round. Why not trade down and maybe grab one of them? But who?

I want to point out the same thing I did earlier when talking about who the Capitals should take at pick number 17. I am not a prospects expert. I have done some reading about these prospects, that's it. I highly encourage you to click on the links that we will give you here so you can read about these prospects from people who know a lot more than me. I am simply here to give you some names to keep an eye on.

With that being said, lets take a look at a few lower ranked defensemen the Capitals might want to look at.

Henry Mews

I will say this once, and I'll say it here. There are defensemen that are ranked higher than all of the guys we'll mention here today. But when we're talking about replacing the offense that John Carlson brings the players ranked higher probably will not be able to do that. All of the guys the are ranked above the guys we're talking about here today are more defensive defensemen. Or at the least guys who don't have the offensive upside we might want.

Bob McKenzie has Henry Mews ranked 48th. That's pretty far down there. Far enough down to maybe not trade down, but trade up in the second round.

This season Mews scored 15 goals and 61 points in 65 games playing for the Ottawa 67's of the OHL. According to The Hockey Writers scouting report his biggest strengths are high offensive ceiling, a very high compete level and terrific skating. The weakness is his defensive game might be inconsistent. A little like John Carlson no?

It sounds like Mews offensive game could make him a top half of the first round selection but the defensive game will likely bring him down to the 20+ range and maybe, even probably drop into the second round.

Knowing the Capitals will proably need a scoring defenseman in the future would you take that trade off? Iffy defense for very good offense? I think the Capitals should. If the Capitals can trade back, maybe into the late 20's I would take a look at Mews there.

Cole Hutson

If the name sounds fimiliar it's for a pretty good reason. The brother of Montreal Canadiens prospects Lane Hutson. Lane is one of the more exciting prospects in all of hockey and for sure one of the most enticing defensemen prospects out there. Lane was taken 62nd overall in the 2022 draft. It doesn't look like Cole will have to wait as long as his older brother. Bob McKenzie has him ranked at 47.

Like his brother he is a smaller guy. Cole is around 5'10" and is somewhere in the 160lbs range. He'll have time to fill out a little more, but he won't ever be a big guy.

We'll talk about the bad here first. Last Word on Sports calls his defensive game "atrocious". His offensive game may help lead to his bad defense thanks to turnovers. He's smaller which means it is harder to him to win physical battles. His stick work defensively might not be great either.

But if we're talking about offense from the back end, you will probably have it here with Hutson. Last Word on Sports also says his offensive upside is "sky high". The Hockey Writers says if he can round out his defensive game he could easily be a top four defenseman.

In terms of what kind of numbers has he put up, this season on the U-18 NTDP he scored 15 goals and 51 points in 51 games. He also scored 3 goals and 12 points in 19 games for the NTDP this season. He put up 4 goals and 13 points in 7 games in the IIHF U-18 tournament as well.

He's commited to going to Boston University. The same school his brother went to. He might be a couple of years off. If the Capitals want offense from D this could be a steal in the very late first round or early second round if they want to trade down, or up.

Leo Sahlin Wallenius

The last guy we'll talk about today is also the highest ranked of the three guys well mention. Wallenius is ranked 42 in McKenzie's final draft ranking.

If we are talking offensive defensemen LSW is probably the "worst" of the three option here today. From everything I've read he sounds more like a puck mover than a guy who will jump up and get his own goals. Playing for Sweden's U-18 team in the Hlinka Greztky Cup and the U-18 championships he played 11 games but scored just 1 goal. He had 8 total points in those 11 games.

Inside The Rink calls Wallenius a potential franchise defenseman. Someone who could compete for Norris Trophies in the future. A great skater with great passing ability.

The Hockey Writers says he could develop into a poor mans Miro Heiskanen. Someone he apparently models his game after.

Compared to the other guys we talked about today Wallenius sounds like he is much more of a two way defensemen rather than a pure offensive guy. The THW scouting report mentions his solid defensive game where he has good positioning and "smart" stick work.

If he reaches his potential it sounds like he could easily be a top four defensemen. A player who will probably run a top power play unit in the NHL. If you want higher offensive upside, look towards the other two guys we talked about earlier. If you want some good offensive upside with more defensive reliability this could be your guy. It sounds like most assume he will be a very late first rounder or a very early second round pick.

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